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Creative Arts High School (My Mom and I Were Homeless) St. Paul MN from Wing Young Huie's album Homelessness, Accessed 8/31/2014.
Now imagine walking past this woman, a few years ago, on that same Minnesota street you just meandered down in your head. This time, imagine her holding the sign. Maybe it has different words scrawled on it. Something along the lines of "Homeless. Any little bit helps. God Bless." The scene is a little different, but your reaction is probably the same. You walk right past her without a second thought. In the first situation, you didn't notice much. She was just a regular person walking down a street. But this time, she was a homeless person. You noticed her. And you deliberately ignored her.
Both Huie and Margaret Atwood present their societal "others" in similar ways. They give these people a voice. When allowed to speak, these people show us pieces of their past. They tell us all about their dreams. They explain the situations they've been put in, through no fault of their own. They become "others" through the labels placed on them by their societies. Handmaid. Homeless. In the "othering" process they gain one H-word and lose another. And although both "others" strip themselves of their labels in the end, they are left without hope.
Do you think that if Huie had photographed a different person with the same sign, it would have changed our perspective? Do most people accept the labels which their society has given them? You make a good point in saying that she IS a person, regardless of her past.
ReplyDeleteI like how you turned this into a personal affair using real life comparisons. It really made me think about what I would have done, and how I would have acted.
ReplyDeleteI think it really helps that the photograph is in B&W. It moves the focus away from the person and their looks (race and clothing) and instead, makes you focus on the sign. It captures your attention. I think the impact would have been the same, regardless of person.
ReplyDeleteI think most people tend to want to break away from the labels society places on them. Especially teenagers!!
Hope you guys enjoyed the post. Thanks for commenting!! (:
We've got two common others here in the image you've selected- the homeless and the alternative (her dreadlocks, her nose ring). I like that Julia asks how the image and our perception here might change if the person changed because of the two categories the current subject falls under. In your response, you bring up the concept of 'voice', which can be analyzed both as a literary technique (author's voice/narrator's voice) and its more literal definition (speaking, words, etc.). I wish you had explored this further because it is such a great take on 'othering', especially since it would have allowed for a deeper analysis and comparison of the two texts.
ReplyDeleteI think that you touching on the black and white aspect really shows how the situation really can be black and white. It's sad. It's raw. Everyone wants something other than what they have and I believe that everyone wants to break out of their role or group that they have been given. As seen in The Handmaid's Tale, every handmaid wanted to break out of their role (even if they didn't directly say it). This picture, along with Atwood, gives someone who isn't necessarily seen and known a voice. That tends to be a big deal and is why there can be such a controversy surrounding it. I like the fact that you included different scenarios as to whether her sign said something different or if she wasn't even holding a sign. You're right, a lot of people wouldn't pay any attention, and I like the fact that you brought that up. The concept of voice is something that should be given and if not able to use it, then aided.
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